The Last Days of Termite Terrace | THE MERRIE HISTORY OF LOONEY TUNES
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ส.ค. 2024
- EPISODE 7
All things must come to an end. But in the case of Looney Tunes and the studio that made them, it was not a dignified one.
00:00 The 60s: A Decade of Change
03:17 Opening
03:49 DePatie and Freleng Start an Enterprise
09:37 The DePatie-Freleng Era
22:17 The Looney Tunes Director Diaspora
25:52 More Tunes on TV
28:14 The Warner-Seven Arts Era
40:20 Bad Colorizations and Censorship
47:03 The Last of the Looney Tunes
52:32 Patreon Ad and Credits
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KB is his name and talking about old animation is his game! If you want deep analysis and history on the realm of retro anime and old animation, then you've come to the right place. Be warned though. Being a possum means he loves consuming trash, media-based or otherwise. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
And Warner Bros never had any terrible mergers again.
Heh heh heh heh *cough Discovery cough*
As could be said in this very video: *Or did they?*
They will not rest until they finally kill Rooster Teeth.
Or AOL since that too was an disaster but not as bad as Discovery thus far.
Pfft, what's going on with Warner right now is the end results of bad management over the past years that finally caught up with them. Discovery right now is trying salvage Warner because it was already in bad shape way before the merger due to how much debt they were in before that and a lot of their the shows and movies they produced over the years being duds and wasted a lot of money.
After watching these retrospectives, I've noticed a pattern of grudges: Hugh Harman with Walt Disney, Chuck Jones with Bob Clampett, Tex Avery with Leon Schlesinger, Rudy Lariva with Chuck Jones. The Lariva 11 are proof that holding grudges is bad for business.
Not to mention DePatie with Chuck Jones.
@@extrahistory8956 Chuck hated David? Is it true that Chuck Jones hated every single WB producer?
@@abdullahibouraleh6919 The other way around, I think. Seems like DePatie never really liked Chuck Jones, which is why he didn't hesitate to fire him after they found he broke his contract.
@@extrahistory8956 Yeah, I get the feeling that Jones had really come to believe his own hype and became a pain to work with for DePatie, as he had been for Selzer, except worse because his reputation by that point in time.
The idea that Rudy Lariva deliberately made his Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons bad as revenge sounds too much like a rumor to be true, as if there needs to be some sort of objective reason that the cartoons are objectively bad (which, no matter what the popular critical opinion is, is still an opinion). Granted, I never met any of these people, so I can't say for certain myself, but I think the more likely situation was that his heart just wasn't in it, and that reflected in the final product.
Funny enough, Chuck Jones said the same thing about his Tom & Jerry cartoons, that as critical as he'd been of them in the past, actually getting to make then himself made him realize that he didn't understand what made them work at all and that his comic sensibilities were a bad match (I had a similar experience recently when I tried to write a Bojack Horseman fanfic: as much as I don't like that show, changing it based on my criticisms would essentially make it a different show).
I think fans of the creative arts hold art in a little more prestige than the artists themselves. :P
It's been almost 2 years, yet there hasn't been any conclusive episode. I will wait.
This has been a fantastic retrospective telling the history of Looney Tunes and WB animation. Really hope an eighth installment is still in the works!
As a former traditional animator (y'know, paper and pencils) I can honestly say that doing full, not limited, animation, doesn't take much more time if you have a core staff of good, experienced animators who can work efficiently. Disney animated DUMBO in something like six months. Once executives started calling the shots it was all over, though.
i'd love to see some of your animati- oh wait
@@RapidVidsProductions If you do a TH-cam search for Emma Grove animation you'll find my stuff pretty fast, including a reading of my graphic novel I didn't even know was on here.
I think it was less about the time savings as the ability to recycle animation so it doesn't have to be redrawn every episode. A generic still pose can conceivably be used in every single episode of series. And even the talking heads can be used over and over again.
And somehow they keep making that same mistake.
"Executives"? Like...Walt Disney?
Norman Normal is like an alternate reality where animation had continued being for general / adult audiences in America, I wish more shorts like it would have been produced.
'Norman Normal' seems like something that could signal in a weird era of high brow cartoons aimed at adults before 'The Simpsons' brought that into the mainstream, but the ending feels kinda incomplete. It has some good ideas, but little follow through.
@@Launchpad05 I do agree with this, I also think it reflects counter-culture trends by purposely being a bit heady for heady sake and kind of misses. Still having a mainstream cartoon short at this time period do anything ambitious even if its a miss is worth praise.
I guess I just always found it interesting how everywhere in Hollywood but animation fully embraced cultural changes in media - animation kind of regressed where live action film gave us the "New Wave" of the late 60s / 70s. Not to say that Ralph Bakshi wasn't kind of part of that, but I'm not sure he was the right person for the job of pushing animation forward...
Two words: ralph bakshi
Reminds me of the kind of animated shorts the National Film Board of Canada produced in the late 70s/early 80s. Very dry, witty and clearly meant to appeal to anxious middle-class adults (in the "kids would either not get this or be bored to tears by it" sense of appeal, not the modern "so vulgar that nobody could mistake this for a kids' cartoon" appeal).
Norman Normal feels like an early Ralph Baski movie. Neat.
The story of Termite Terrence's revival sounds like those "We got the band together" stories from hell. Complete with the devil in the form of Jack Warner lol
Even when doing a retrospective documentary on looney tunes, KB still can't escape the grip that is anime.
My mouth dropped when I saw Astro Boy. Considering how it's considered the first popular TV anime, as well as how its creator Osaamu Tezuka is considered the father of anime, it was pretty wild how it was connected to the re-colored Looney Tunes shorts.
@@extrahistory8956 Yeah, Fred Ladd is the main reason behind this. He did the psuedo-colourisations but also co-wrote that bad Filmation pseudo-sequel to Wizard of Oz (which had Mickey Rooney as scarecrow, Milton Berle as the lion, Paul Lynd as Pumpkin-head, and Liza Minelli, Marge Hamilton, who did Wicked Witch of the West as Aunt Am, Judy's Garland's daughter, as Dorothy). People joke that he has his place in Hell for them.
@@extrahistory8956 Osamu Tezuka is considered the Godfather of Manga, actually. Though his deal to get Astro Boy animated is why animators in Japan are paid so low.
Even with his brief digression to Fred Ladd's contributions to bringing anime to the states, he's still on point with 'Looney Tunes'.
Animehhhh…
One way "The Road Runner Show"'s theme song stayed in the public mind long after 1973 was its appearance in the background in one scene of "The Shining".
Actually, if I remember correctly, the Road Runner short that was being played in the background near the beginning of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" was "Stop! Look! And Hasten!" back in 1954. It's the scene where the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote are running up and down the tracks. You'll be able to tell by the music. Trust me. ;)
Since we're near the end I just want to say this: this is the best Looney Tunes, heck, the best animation documentary period. Every time I think I know where something is going, a new fact takes me by surprise. I legit never knew stuff like DFE moving into the old WBA building or that they tried to pitch a ton of new LT ideas to keep the studio afloat. Stuff like this and Defunctland's recent work gives me a sense of happiness and wonder that TH-cam, which was once thought of a website where kids screamed at Mannequin heads and remixed news reports, can now contain stuff that rivals the likes of Hollywood in terms of journalism and research.
It's people realizing that people do consume long-form, well-thought out content; and then having the werewithall to capitalize on that.
(The long-form doesn't mean every documentary has to be 1 hr plus, but it does mean you need to take a deliberate, measured approach to the content you are presenting.)
I don't know if we're near the end.
I suspect next video might focus on Looney Tunes revival in the 80s with Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Then focus on the Warner Bros new cartoons of the 90s, Tiny Toons that played a lot of respect to the Looney Tunes. Then there's the 90s movie Space Jam
Then there's Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain. Also MGM revived Tom & Jerry through Tom & Jerry Kids and Tom & Jerry movie.
Disney's revival of animated films of the '90s, and TV shorts. The '80s and '90s was field mind of cartoons, and I'm glad I grew up in that era. The only time a major broadcast network like FOX would dedicated an entire afternoon block 2PM-5PM every day of the week + Saturday to showing cartoons, free on Broadcast TV.
Something that hasn't been done since.
@@vh9network dude, the title card at the end literally says "to be concluded"
I don't like how he overly praised Chuck Jones and underpraised McKimson
I agree, wholeheartedly
We now come to the worst time in history for Looney Tunes, both in terms of the quality AND actual quantity, given that most of the staple characters were totally retired during this decade.
I know you had mentioned in your Patreon announcements this one was a struggle to research due to the scattered documentation and lack of information since this is the era of Looney Tunes no one really wants to talk about. But I have to say, you did it justice; your work was definitely not in vain. This episode is an excellent and illuminating entry of not just Looney Tunes, but animation history in general.
I feel like more books and retellings about this era will use this video for a source. I know I would.
Butch Catsidy actually wasn't that bad an idea, if he had been Sylvester's initial replacement instead of Daffy then at least those cartoons wouldn't have felt so awkward. I also remember a Vulture character who was Speedy's antagonist in one of the 50s shorts they could have brought back
Sylvester and probably Yosemite Sam.
He would've made for an interesting antagonist than Daffy.
And he was built like Taz
@@SuperWolsey I'm sure Bob McKimson probably designed him too.
Beaky buzzard or someone else?
Just finished binging this full series of 7 videos, loved it. I hope you're still planning on doing the conclusion
I am waiting for the next part which is the resurgence in popularity for the brand at the tail end of the 1980's and the 1990's. Especially since the 1990's is seen as the silver age of animation.
2:22 Walt Disney technically died of cardiac arrest following his lung cancer surgery, but lung cancer counts as a co-morbidity.
EDIT: He died of circulatory arrest and had chemo instead of surgery, but lung cancer was still a co-morbidity.
EDIT: he had chemo, not surgery.
Thanks for the Facts.
He got it in the middle of sergury!? Jesus, how unfortunate
@@BBWahoo I said "following surgery". He died due to cardiac arrest AFTER surgery for his lung cancer (surgery is the best option when one tumor is in one of the lungs). Regardless, I relaised that Walt never had surgery but chemo.
@@teddyfurstman1997 I was wrong on surgery. He had chemotherapy instead. His arrest was circulatory instead of heart per se.
Nah the jews finally got him
Ex-CUSE me, sir, but at that time it was definitely called “Japanimation”!
This is good, but I'd like to point out just a couple of errors, mostly regarding the Roadrunner cartoons. Several of the Roadrunner clips you credit to Rudy Larriva are actually from "Rushing Roulette" and "Sugar and Spies", which were both directed by Robert McKimson in-house at DePatie/Freleng, and they're notably much better than the "Larriva 11". You even specifically credit "Sugar and Spies" to Larriva. There's also the bit about Larriva making the Roadrunner shorts deliberately bad to somehow spite Chuck Jones. It's true they didn't get along, but Jones created the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote nearly a decade after he and Larriva had worked together, and Jones' "Rules" for the series were never set in stone, and were published in one of his autobiographies years after the cartoons were made. The truth is, Friz Freleng and David DePatie made the decision to outsource those cartoons to Larriva's Format Films studio because they didn't have the time or budget to make a dozen new Roadrunner shorts in addition to the Pink Panther and Speedy Gonzales, and something had to give. Format was happy to have the business, and did what they could with a meager budget and "canned" musical score. There's also a clip of Merlin the Magic Mouse you credit to Daws Butler, when it was actually voiced by Larry Storch. Other than that, good job.
According to Mark Kausler, Rudy apparently knew that his shorts weren’t as good as Chuck’s and was very apologetic about them, blaming the budgets he was given for how badly the animation turned out (though he did praise Ray Thursby’s for covering up the lack of cels on the shorts with smooth and expressive camera moves).
There's so much that happens in the modern era that I wouldn't be surprised if it stretched into a longer video (if not videos). Revival in the 70s, the first video games, spin-off TV shows and films, crossovers, the first Looney Tunes comics, the 2010s-2020s re-revival, gonna be jam packed if nothing else.
Absolutely banger video!
Yes sir, I can't wait for that video to come out!!
@@JRProductions1203 ma'am, but yeah, it's hype.
The 2020s era is going be really interesting to see document for reasons good and bad.
“Anime” was originally called Japanimation. “Anime” as a term DIDN’T really catch on until AFTER Naruto went Mainstream in the US (around 2005-2007) because of Toonami. While “Anime” was used before then it wasn’t as widely used as “Japanimation” was. If you don’t believe me, then go watch Season 1 of Veronica Mars (Dated September 2004) among other Mainstream Series & Movies from before then and compare it with stuff (released in September 2005 & later) when the English Dub premiered in the US. Also go look up reviews of Anime Movies & Shows and you won’t see that term used to often until after 2005 or so.
More like Terebi Manga.
I remember the Simpsons episode where Bart called it Japanimation
I remember in the first Metal Gear Solid (released in 1998), Otacon (one of the characters in the game) say "It's like one of my Japanese animes!". That was the first time I heard the word anime.
@@jaccblacc8424 That’s going off the Dub & not the Original Japanese Language Track. Dubs were notorious back then for not always translating stuff with proper translations of what the original Japanese was supposed to be like. Plus I am basing this off of Animation Books, Websites, Mainstream Magazines etc of that era (say the 1970’s-2005/2006).
Examples include when Akira, Ghost in the Shell & Perfect Blue arriving to the Western World 🌎 in the late ‘80’s through the late ‘90’s. Hell you can even throw Robotech, The Transformers & Voltron into that conversation.
God I've been waiting for this video for so long. Didn't realize the Rudy Lavarra's Roadrunner shorts might've been born of a grudge, but considering Jones held a grudge towards Clampett, not out of the question. One thing that also might explain Daffy's attitude in the Daffy/Speedy shorts might be that McKimson was forced to use the more Jones-esque version of the character, and as you showed earlier in this series, he wasn't comfortable with that portrayal. That and him being burnt out like crazy, would explain why Daffy's personality is more mean spirited in those shorts
48:07 Actually, the Blue Ribbon reissues didn’t stop in 1968. They actually lasted another year and ended up stopping 4 months after the final new Looney Tunes short was released (the final one if you are wondering, was Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z, reissued on December 27, 1969). So if you are sad about the poor note that the produced Looney Tunes theatrical shorts ended on (even though I think it wasn’t that bad) try to think that the official final scene of Looney Tunes was of Wile E Coyote being allowed his cartoon to end before he hits the ground instead of Cool Cat leaving a cartoon that many people think is poor and racist.
Well, at least it had that going for them.
Yeah, I guess. Still doesn’t change the fact that Injun Trouble was the last NEW looney tune in the golden age.
I really appreciate the research made on what the old animators and directors were doing at the time, and the concext od the others things happening in the 60s too, really makes this documentary series special to me!
You know... In a lot of ways, it's a good thing that studio had its final days in the 60s. Times were changing and old fashioned attitudes were being challenged. Limited animation became a thing that eventually led to the founding of anime with Tezuka, which then, through the influence of western cinema, gave us some absolutely amazing stuff of which the list is endless. It's unfortunate the death of a studio needs to happen for the new things to take it's place, but I still love them old cartoons and they're such a staple for everyone over the last 100 years. From the Western film makers to the East, I don't think there's a corner of this globe that hasn't been affected by the Warner bros cartoon studio stuff.
One of my favourite things ever, and I highly recommend you look it up, was Christopher Lee being interviewed about Peter Cushing. Both of them were HUGE cartoon fans, especially of the old era and they would both watch the cartoons together and enjoy them as you would. When Cushing was quite ill and towards the end of his life, Lee came to him with two cartoons. A Tom & Jerry cartoon featuring Spike (Cushing loved to quote "That's mah boy!") And the other was a Sylvester and Tweety Cartoon, Snow Business, because Sylvester was another favourite of Cushings. From Lee's words, he said that Cushing went from being quite ill and frail to roaring with absolute hilarity and laughter all in the space of these 6 minute little silly cartoons that were made to be forgotten. For an ill old man, he got to experience a nice window of joy and happiness for a brief period of time. I think that's more important than any award, any medal, any trophy that these things could have won over the years. They provided a delightful moment of happiness and escape that entertainment is meant to provide.
Thanks for this Kaiser. You did a great job.
Additionally, theatrical cartoon shorts continued to be produced by other studios until 1981 but there wasn’t much of a difference between them and their television counterparts aside from the theatrical shorts having more… ‘erm, mature content than the television shows. Theaters preferred to do reruns of older shorts anyway rather than play these newer shorts, which were widely panned.
The main thing I remember about Cool Cat is that, as a '90s kid, I had a vague idea that he was the same character as the Cheetos mascot.
Pink Panther, anime discussion, 60s politics, and the New Hollywood system? All in one video? Finally, content aimed JUST for me!
This was really good Kaiser!! Your discussion into the changing social/political attitudes of the 1960s is extremely instrumental to talking about that decade of entertainment in general. You can’t talk 60s cartoons without at least mentioning the hippies and the Black Panthers lol. But anyways, great job!
agree
The 60's was A very difficult time for the cartoon short to stay relevant, and sustain itself amidst executive shake ups, and A changing climate that's still felt to this day. While cartoon shorts are still made, they're few, and far between. Making them A lost art. Future generations will remember seeing bad car insurance commercials on the big screen, and will never know what it was like to see A funny cartoon short on the big screen.
@Marc Baker Pixar would disagree with you on that one
Man...the 60s really were turbulent for pop culture in all facets.
Given your touching on the changing face of animation in this time period, you ever read the IDW miniseries "The Comic Book History of Animation"? Really fascinating and inventive work by Fred Van Lente and his collaborators.
Cartoonist Kayfabe should do an episode on that book.
Looney Tunes should make a Suicide Squad parody with the late 60s characters. It just seems like something they'd do to acknowledge Bunnie and Claude, Cool Cat, Merlin the Magic Mouse, etc.
Sounds like A rejected episode of 'The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'.
And Norman Normal, Rapid Rabbit, and Quick Brown Fox.
Not a bad idea. I'd watch it.
Maybe one with the pre-Porky roster, too?
@@Launchpad05That’s because they appeared in an episode from that series
Couple of notes one, while Daws Butler did voice Merlin in his debut short, Larry Storch took over afterwards and two, 2 of the Roadrunner shorts were directed by Robert McKimson including the last DFE Roadrunner short.
I wish Daws Butler had stayed with it. Larry Storch wasn't bad but his WC Fields impression was to harsh and raspy, I still liked the cartoons though. The voice he used for Cool Cat was very close to his real one.
Adding to it, there were 13 Road Runners in the DFE era (14 if you count "The Wild Chase"). Larriva and Format Films did 11, while McKimson did 2 at DFE.
@@SmallbugStudio Funny enough, DFE had better animation in the Roadrunner shorts compared to Format and Larriva.
@@chrismulwee4911 Yeah, I definitely prefer Daws Butler's Merlin and Second Banana voices over Larry Storch. And the voice Storch used for Colonel Rimfire was kind of like a loud British version of the Frank Morgan-esque voice he used for Phineas J. Whoopee in "Tennessee Tuxedo" (the character I frequently associate with Storch) and Drac of the "Groovie Goolies" (whose physical design was even a loose caricature of Storch!)
It’s also worth noting that Merlin’s debut short was Daws Butler’s last voice role that he did for the studio.
Note: Irv Spector was a former story artist and animator for Famous/Paramount Cartoon Studios who got his association with the studio back when it was still Fleischer located in Miami around 1939. He apparently left the studio around 1962/1963 to work for Hanna Barbera and Ed Graham before joining the Warners/DFE Crew
Irv started at Fleischers in 1938 when they moved down to Miami. He first started out animating on the Popeye shorts and on their 2 movies, Gulliver’s Travels and Mr Bug Goes To Town. When Fleischers shut down, he was one of the people who went to Famous and was an animator but in the early 50s, he became a writer/storyman. He left Famous in 1963 and moved to California and worked at DePatie Freleng, Hanna Barbera and MGM with Chuck Jones. He died in 1977
This series is criminally underappreciated. I'm still waiting for the day when the algorithm gives you the bump you deserve.
30:48 The Ant and the Aardvark is very popular in Germany, owing its success in no small part to the German dub which took many creative liberties such as turning the Aardvark into a female character
This was extremely cool. I waited a while to watch it but I'm very impressed - I always wondered what was up with Seven Arts watching those weird Cool Cat shorts as a kid, and I feel like the documentation for this stuff is spread out over so many different places that having a concise, focused documentary like this is extremely helpful. I had no idea DePati-Freleng just...took over the old building. Wild times those were.
This has been a fantastic series. As a lifelong Looney Tunes fan, these videos have continued to educate and enthral with your in-depth history. Great work.
Oh my God! Finally! I actually thought this part wouldn't come out, given how long this came out after the previous one. But considering how much history is in this, it's no wonder this took 10 months to complete! The most overlooked era of the original Looney Tunes is finally covered! Great video as usual!
The ending twist was a real surprise, though! I'm very happy you're going to cover the history of Looney Tunes past 1969, very few have. I'm already excited for the new part!
It was also nice to hear about the humble beginning of DePatie-Freleng. But the fact that WB/7-Arts tried to get Bob Clampett as a director was new to me. I'm not surprised why he didn't come back, though. I've never heard of a reason why Rudy Larriva supposedly starting hating Chuck Jones later on. But this video gives a good suggestion.
I don't think Larriva deliberately sabotaged Jones own creations, that's a bit too nutso of a conspiracy-theory for me, I think Larriva simply saw a chance to get out of Jones own shadow and put his own spin on the formula.
@@jadedheartsz None of that is confirmed, though. It's all speculation.
@@abdullahibouraleh6919 I know that's why I said the phrase I THINK.
@@jadedheartsz Oh, my mistake. 😅
Though eventually pulled off the air, I did enjoy Bosko shorts rerunned on Nickelodeon back in the later 80s and early 90s. I even remember commercials signaling "Goodbye Bosko!"
For some reason, I thought this was (and maybe it *was*) intended to be the final part in this series... And it's been so good that I would have been satisfied had that been the case. But I'm glad to see that you're extending into the modern era. Not so much because I watched the newer Looney Tunes shows (I didn't), but because I was a kid in the 90's and I'm interested to hear about the Tunes' resurgence in popularity in that decade (I'm assuming from being re-broadcast on Cartoon Network and, of course, Space Jam). Anyway, I've really, truly loved this series (in addition to all your fantastic anime content), and am very excited for the conclusion! Keep up the awesome work, KB!
A couple things about Chuck Jones' activity during this time. It seems to me that The Dot and the Line may have been a hangover from his UPA phase and you forgot to remind everyone how he knew Dr. Seuss from working together during WWII (see Episode 3).
Geisel (Suess) and writing partner Phil Eastman worked on the Private Snafu series with the Warner brass during the war years which were each directed by Jones, Freleng, Clampett and Tashlin. Geisel and Eastman would later work at UPA on the Gerald McBoing-Boing series in the '50s and create a the "I Can Read All By Myself" book series in the '60s.
When you commented on Chuck Jones creating "The Dot and the Line" for MGM (as well as "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"), you forgot to mention "The Bear that Wasn't" (based on the book by Jones' old stablemate, Frank Tashlin) and "The Phantom Toolbooth" a part live action and part animated feature with Butch (Eddie Munster) Patrick as the hero, Milo.
There's also animating sequences for MGM's anthology show "Off To See The Wizard".
I'm going to assume they aren't mentioned because there's not really any place in the narrative for it that wouldn't be sidetracking, especially The Phantom Tollbooth, since that came out one year after the the very last Looney Tune short. All you need to know is he was doing other stuff around this time, including a couple shorts that were particularly successful.
@@gabe_s_videos Yes, Chuck had a pretty good track record in the 70's, including being VP of Children's Programming at ABC for a year.
animationresources.org/4745/
@@ChristopherSobieniak Oh wow, I never knew about that! I knew he did some TV specials in the 70s, but I didn't know that was his title at the time! Thanks for sharing!
As well as the other Dr.Suess special Horton Hears a Who and working with Walt Kelly on the first Pogo cartoon. Also The Dot and the Line finally gave Jones the Oscar that he was denied during his era at Warners.
Glad to hear you're going to continue this series. I'm very curious about the history behind some of the various Looney Tunes revivals.
Can't wait til we get to the Tiny Toons and Taz era of WB cartoons! Should be a surreal!
Along with Batman and Animaniacs
@@jamesklatt oh we can't forget them!
No talk about post-closure LTs would be complete without Daffy Duck Meets the Groovy Ghoulies, easily the worst thing the characters have had their name on
Also, Freakazoid
And Pinky and the Brain and speaking of Batman RIP Kevin Conroy
I am a HUGE fan of DePatie-Freleng cartoons like The Pink Panther. DFE was trying to be either Filmation or Hanna-Barbera(I also like them,too!)by having the same staff members go from studio to studio. For example,LaVerne Harding started working at Walter Lantz,then she did "The Yogi Bear Show" for Hanna-Barbera. Soon she went to DFE as animator until the very last cartoon "Pink Panic". Then she went to WB-Seven Arts and finally Filmation Studios in 1970.
I’m so sad you didn’t mention this, but the Porky Pig show actually ran for many years in Latin America, especially in my home country, Chile. The show had reruns until 2009, somehow, and at some point, they actually edited the episode order themselves so that people didn’t notice there were only 26 episodes.
Been looking forward to this one for a while for I know next-to-nothing of the Looney Toon's 'Dark Age'. That aside, this have been a fantastic series and that has put previous DVD extra connected to these classic animated shorts to shame. Please keep up the amazing work on this and all your other videos!
More studios should use your videos as an example for how to make fantastic DVD extras about the people who made these cartoons.
After the long-time wait and patients, this long-awaited continuing story of the rise and fall of the Golden Age of Looney Tunes has arrived for us to enjoy, many thank you so much for having this latest episode available for us to watch on TH-cam, KB!
And on top of that, looking back on animators: Chuck Jones (Tom and Jerry, How The Grinch Stole Christmas), Bob Clampett (any Looney Tunes cartoons), Friz Freling, David DePlate (The Pink Panther cartoons) and others aftermath from their Looney Tunes cartoons...
Sorry, but don’t you mean Bob Clampett?
@@kendrarasberry3078 Word Error, well spotted man!
Bill Melendez co-produced the Peanuts specials, not Bob Clampett. Fun fact, former Clampett animator Rod Scribner would animate on the Peanuts specials during the final years of his life in the 1970s.
@@aertnadle2466 It was wild knowing that Bill Melendez originally worked on 'Looney Tunes' shorts before being known for his work on the 'Peanuts' cartoons. This was after hearing his commentary track on the second 'Golden Collection' set.
Your pulling the weird history of this era into one place is much appreciated. I only ask that you attribute "Sugar and Spies" to Robert McKimson.
True. That was Bob's attempt at doing Chuck's characters. He also did Plymouth ads with them too.
Sugary Spire Reference???!!??!??
Also Rushing Roulette
Glad to see Warner Bros, while never returning to the heights of the golden age, learnt from their past mistakes and never thought of deprioritizing their animated projects due to an ill-fated corporate merger and new owners that just don’t understand the public’s interests.
I always had an idea that either Rocky and Mugsy or the Mexican Yosemite Sam would have been a better reoccurring antagonist than Daffy, who is one of my favorite Looney Tunes characters.
I agree. Daffy was such an odd choice as an antagonist for Speedy. Pairing Daffy up with Bugs made more sense than with Speedy. It's like they made Daffy a villain for no good reason other than 'how can we make this work without ruining his character'.
They could’ve made Daffy some bumbling sheriff who tries to steal credit from Speedy (you know, sorta like Daffy’s shenanigans from “Show Biz Bugs”) but failing miserably over and over again. I dunno, I think that sounds like a great way to introduce Daffy as Speedy’s foil
@@xdluck_xd7481 AND it could have made Daffy a bit more likable than what they made him.
I'm always glad to see these specials and to learn from them. They're all worth the wait, informative, and come from a place of love. The respect for the creators and an honesty in discussing them is something I appreciate. The coverage of possibly controversial topics never feels like it's coming from someone's agenda. All in all, these installments are master classes in how to do documentaries on animation. I'll be teaching a course on the history of comic books next semester, and so I made a special point to watch this on my laptop with the lights turned out. Its style and its rhythm will likely influence parts of what I'll do in the presentation of material. If you rewatch all of these videos, you will get a sense of how to help or hinder creativity in general.
Yes I am happy for more of that Marrie History of the Iconic Looney Tunes. Too bad it's about the dang 60's shorts. 😐
Also, Love that you mentioned The Pink Panther shorts and Beatles Clips.
Also P.S. That Bugs Bunny ad with The Monkees for Kool Aid was a trip.
Edit: Thanks for the Likes.
It had to be mentioned. It's important to it's topic.
@@vintagetvandexciting That topic is interesting.
@@vintagetvandexciting it is from mid or late 60s not the early 60s
This did mark a tragic end for a series of pretty successful shorts. If I can only think of one good cartoon from that era, it has to be Norman Normal (albeit not being an LT/MM short). The shorts felt very out of place and unwanted if they wanted to keep the series alive.
Overall, I enjoyed the documentary as a whole. It was interesting to see how they felt flat short by the late 60s due to the many social/cultural changes happening in America. Can't wait to see more from you in the future~
alright let's see the next episode
You know, months back, I'd recently realized something about the classic period of Looney Tunes (1930-1969) as a whole: animation historian John Canemaker once said about Walt Disney's 1940 feature film, Fantasia, "It's a sacred monster of a film." I've realized (and this is just my opinion) the classic LT & Merrie Melodies cartoons shorts, as a whole, are the same way; it's a sacred monster of a cartoon series. When you get to the cartoons that aren't that great (whether they're bad, average, okay or even just good), you tend to feel like it was reasonably entertaining or not bad, but you wish it was done better at best or you're just flat-out bored and you just want to watch the great LT cartoons at worst. However, when you get the LT cartoons that range from great to downright wonderful, you just really get this feeling of happiness, like you just watched something that makes you feel not just good, but really good. Film historian & film critic Leonard Maltin once said, in an interview on Cartoon Network in 1998, "Warner Bros. made a ton of perfect cartoons" and I have to agree; there are plenty of LT cartoons that I consider not only perfect, but a 10/10 and an A+. But even when watching the LTs that I consider an 8/10 (A-) or a 9/10 (A), I still think "That cartoon was really good" and I still get that feeling of happiness out of it, regardless of whether or not it's perfect. If anything, I'd argue the classic LT shorts show that not everything has to be perfect to get one's approval; even if something is just good, but not great, it's still far from being a total loss.
This man should make “the magic history of Disney theatrical shorts”
Or the history of Fleischer/Paramount theatrical shorts
@@MickeyMouse-lw9hg or the history of terrytoons
So glad your still doing these. Ever thought about tackling some of the other big Animation studios? Would love to see documentaries about Hanna Barbera, MGM or Filmation as well. Might be something to look into when you wrap up the History of the Looney Tunes.
I'd love to see you do episodes on Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Jay Ward, or how Depate-Freleng was bought by Marvel to form Marvel Productions.
YES. I've been watching all of these with complete fascination. It takes a few months between to get them done, but they are WORTH THE WAIT. I've been sharing every one that comes out with my friends.
@@Launchpad05 I would like to see a Paramount Cartoons history spanning both Fleischer AND Famous, and ALSO George Pal's Puppetoons.
@@chrismulwee4911 Nick Knacks did an episode on 'Cartoon Kablooey' that cover the history of Fleischer Studios/Famous Studios/Paramount Cartoon Studios, as well as UPA. th-cam.com/video/1rnBgML5RIo/w-d-xo.html
I would've suggested Walt Disney Animation Studios, but AniMat covered that staring in 2019 and ended last year
Fun Fact: Later On, The Colored Versions Of the Old Cartoons Were Switched to Done On Computer (BTW Not Done By Korea Instead Some Company Named CST Enterprises)
And Now Moves Like the Black and White Versions
Hey, I know you. 😃
@@fictionalmediabully9830 😮 What The How Did You Found My Comment
@@DanielLave25280
I selected "Newest", and I immediately saw yours by accident.
That 60s style intro was always my cue to change the channel.
Yeah, Bill Lava is NO Carl Stalling.
One thing I will say, I love the abstract, minimalistic logos of the late '60s cartoons.
You know, looking back as a kid and watching Looney Tunes on tv in the late 90s/early 2000s, I always enjoyed them..but for some reason I always groaned when that Seven Arts Animation logo popped on screen and that offbeat Looney Tunes theme would play. I couldn’t explain it back then, but I could clearly tell that this was a drop in quality compared to the cartoons that, while I could tell they were older, had waaay more laughs and felt more lively. Now I understand why.
Me too!
This was also the era where the studios themselves were coming apart. Besides the Warner/Seven Arts/Kinney mess, Paramount ended up with Gulf + Western and gobbling up Desilu; 20th Century-Fox shutting down until enough money could be found to restart it, Universal was bought by MCA, Columbia struggling and having the Screen Gems division holding it together. And there was the long, slow death of the classic MGM. Those were the days.
Speaking of MGM, I had this one dream if I ever were to like be a guy behind the scenes of entertainment, I had a dream that I would one day bring back MGM as one of the big studios again, and build a brand new studio lot for them, just like when they were in their prime from the 30s to the 80s when Turner bought it
Don't forget Gulf + Western was responsible of closing Paramount's animation studio as well.
I know most folks want to hear more about the early stuff and the good stuff, but this is the era I was excited for you to get to. I'm all sickos.jpg over here
I've been bingeing this series the past few months and I'm happy to see a new installment come out. I can't wait to see the direction the final part takes as the Looney Tunes have seen many highs and lows (and a couple of spectacular spin-offs) since the end of the '60s.
After this, we got the 'compilation era' where they made new movies, and TV specials with classic cartoons spliced in, the by 1990, we got A while new 'WB TV Animation' era that gave us new shows like 'Tiny Toons', 'Animaniacs', and what would be known as The DCAU. #RIPKevinConroy
@@Launchpad05 Growing up in the 70's and 80's, that was all we had.
@@ChristopherSobieniak I grew up in the 70's, and 80's, too.
Finally! You plan on releasing a supercut maybe someday?
Yeah, that'd be very interesting.
Maybe when part 8 comes out
@@freakfoxvevo7915
He said episode 8 might be release in late-August, emphasize on late since he could potentially change it again, due to either episodes of Kyoto Video or more news regarding Warner Bros. Discovery.
I'm thrilling to see the next video talking about the rebirth of Looney Tunes, the Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng return to Warner Bros., the end of DePatie-Freleng, the new shorts, the 90s new craze about Looney Tunes, Space Jam, Back in Action, etc.
Hopefully an honorable mention to the new generation of that era
Tiny toons and the animaniacs
Since it'll apparently the final video in the series, it's gonna require at least a 2 hour long video to cover everything in a 50 year period.
42:03 I’d love to hear you talk more about this so-called “anime”
Kyoto Video might help you out.
Bugs Bunny no Pico
Absolutely amazing and astounding analysis about ancient animation.
I hope that alliteration is able to bring you even one smile, because your series has brought me hundreds.
This video was totally worth the wait. Thank you for putting so much hard work and intensive research into this series.
Given the limitations the Era had from DFE to Seven Arts in terms of whom they could use it's almost an miracle that any new shorts were made after the studio was closed before DFE entered the picture. I can't blame Friz and David for not returning to Warner especially with the benefits United Artists gave them, and they did own a portion of the original Pink Panther copyright as well.
It's like they understood the disadvantages of coming back to A studio that already owns your creations, and won't give them back. Something that alot of today's cartoon creators are learning the hard way. (Especially at Cartoon Network)
@@Launchpad05 we also saw that in the comics industry as well with many superstar artists like Rob Liefeld and Todd MacFarland not being happy with how Marvel and D.C. were treating them by retaining ownership of any characters they created, so they all formed Image comics(who actually outsold D.C. at one point)so they could finally create and own their own creations.
It also led them to made deals to other companies since they were freelance. After leaving the Warner's lot they signed a deal with NBC to make SMS's and TV specials. This would lead The Pink Panther series to air in 1970 and would stay on the network thru 1978.
@@acholl980 and then the Marvel Comics cartoons beginning w/ Fantastic 4 (minis Johnny Storm since someone at Universal Studios couldn't tell the difference between Human Torches: Storm or the Android Golden Age iteration Jim Hammond), Spider-Woman, The Incredible Hulk, and ultimately Spider-Man
@@SuperWolsey That ultimately lead Marvel to buy DFE studios in 1980. Friz went on to work on Looney Tunes features while Dave stayed on with Lee Gunther and head the company from 81-84.
Hey man, I want to thank you for doing this series. I’m a history major and animation is my favorite medium, so this is right up my alley.
I’ve also been sick this week, so this show has been a great distraction.
The WB 7Arts years were the absolute bottom of the barrel for LT cartoons. And it's a drive-in theater, not a drive though theater. 😂 But yeah, good stuff! 👍👍👍 all the way!
Of course there's still more. There's the recovery of the A.A.P. shorts with a detour through Atlanta. The Looney Tunes becoming theme park mascots. And of course, a theatrically released, 90-minute Nike commercial!
I can't believe the series is over, I just want to say thank you, I can't even say how many times I watched and watched the series, I just admired your dedication for these videos, you're wonderful and thanks for teach so many people who don't know about the history of the boys from termite terrace and the Looney Tunes gang! You're the greatest! Thanks for all of this (I'm crying).
Don't think it's over since there was a 'to be concluded' sign at the very end, unless you meant ending rather than ended.
It feels sad that this was how things had to go. Still I didn't know that one of the guys who made the looney tunes ended up making the Peanuts specials so that was cool to learn about.
Yup, J.C. "Bill" Melendez. He started on Arthur Davis' short lived unit back in 1947
@@vintagetvandexciting He was the original voice of Snoopy (and sometimes Woodstock), btw.
BM actually started his career at Disney as an Assistant Animator. He did the 1941 Disney Strike and became one of Bob Clampett's people before finding himself in Arthur Davis' world.
@@vintagetvandexciting So he worked on shorts like 'Porky Chops'. (paper boy in the 6th.)
Your videos covering the history of Looney Tunes is always a treat to watch and something everyone looks forward to.
Thank you for always putting out such good content.
I also have to say that this video might have unintentionally answered a question I had in my head that got brought up from another retrospective video I watched that talked mentioned 7 Arts Warner Bros.
Long story short, it was a video talking about Hammer Films and how they had struck a deal with 7 Arts warner bros to have them distribute their films out to the USA, however the deal was cancelled after many years and it was never explained why, your video is giving me an idea on an answer that it might have just been 7 Arts giving away their shares after they saw that they weren't getting much out of it.
it feels interesting how Retrospectives can link a bunch of things you wouldn't think would be related
What's the link to that video talking about Hammer Films' deal with 7 Arts?
@@aertnadle2466 the video is from Dark Corner's Review, I believe it's the one they did on Christohper Lee's Dracula
"He had hit his mid-70s, and was now looking back at the vast studio empire that he had watched his brothers build with their own two hands and had stolen out from under them after they did all the hard work."
I had to stop the video, I was laughing too hard!
Where is the next part?
The King Has Returned Finally After All That Waiting It's Here
Daffy Duck was really nasty in these 60's episodes with Speedy Gonzales almost evil. In the 50's cartoons with Bugs Bunny Daffy's bad nature came more from jealousy than pure malice. He was jealous, greedy, selfish, cowardly, but still lovable and Daffy sometimes, albeit incompetent played hero like Stupor Duck. In these 60's shorts with Speedy however he was just plain cruel and villainous, completely unlovable. In one episode, SNO' EXCUSE he wouldn't share any of wood with a freezing Speedy: "Are you kidding?" He exclaimed "Rodents should thtarve to death!" and slammed the door on him. In one episode he whipped a mouse for daring to set foot on his plantation. That's not the Daffy we all know an love.
Hats off to KaiserBeamz! This is the animation documentary that has more facts per square inch than any other I’ve ever seen. It was great to see someone give La Verne Harding her due. For a VERY long time, Ms. Harding was the ONLY female animator in the big-time animation business. The ladies who worked in the Ink & Paint Department did not animate - they traced the animators’ PAPER drawings onto the celluloid material (and after World War II, a clear plastic called Mylar), and painted the colors of the characters on the back sides of the pen-and-ink tracings. And speaking of colors, you hit it right on the head with your “colorful” description of Jack Warner. However, with the provenance (Google it, kids) of some of the credited people involved with your research, Mr. Beamz, I did spot an error. There may be a problem with that photo of the late, great Voice Actor and my friend & voice acting coach (thanks, Corey!) Daws Butler. How did he get a first name like Daws? Well, his full name was Charles DAWSON Butler. And if you knew the man, who stood a towering 5’2” (NOT a typo!) and was the creator of over a thousand ORIGINAL character voices, such as Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss and Huckleberry Hound [for Hanna-Barbera] BOTH the Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton characters [for Warner Bros], and Cap’n Crunch, Quisp and Quake [for the Quaker Oats Company], and dozens of characters for the “Fractured Fairy Tales” [for Jay Ward Productions’ Rocky and Bullwinkle shows], you’d know he just wasn’t the “Charlie” or “Chuck” kind of guy. So he used a shortened version of his middle name, starting well before his cartoon and commercial career). But back to the photo. It appears to me to be the last guy to have his own CBS Network radio comedy show, The Stan Freberg Show! It starred Stan, Daws Butler and another longtime friend, June Foray (Witch Hazel for Disney, Warner Bros. AND Walter Lantz!). The witch is believed to be the only character who appeared in cartoons for THREE animation studios)! Incidentally, Stan and Daws INVENTED the comedy record (the kind that wasn’t necessarily just a spoof of someone’s hit song)!
Ed Ryba
Lifetime Member, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers,
Hollywood Section
The Larriva Road Runner shorts were actually produced by Herb Klynn's Format Productions, as DePatie-Freleng was VERY busy with the Pink Panther cartoons, as well as commercials and other outside assignments (including Gerry Chiniquy animating the "I DREAM OF JEANNIE" opening title).
Only 2 cartoons were done in-house. Rushing Roulette and Sugar and Spies both by Bob Mckimson. The former was the only time Bill Lava actually did a score not recycled and the later was done by Walter Greene who also churned out Pink Panther work.
KB correctly notes Lava's original score for "Run Run Sweet Road Runner".
So excited that another Merrie History is coming 😃 Any anticipated date yet 👀 pretty pleeeeez
Rightfully off-putting as it is, it makes sense both in-universe and in meta that Daffy turned so sour at the beginning of the Speedy era. After years of being in the wabbit's shadow, now he was top of the hill as Bugs was on studio lockdown. With his ego and anger having noone to direct at above him, not to mention the fact his return to stardom came as everything was circling the drain, this would lead him to lash out at all those beneath him, at least until Speedy somehow got him to calm down offscreen in the Format Films era. He realized it was all gonna end soon enough and decided to go out holding hands rather than clenching fists.
Fun fact, all of his looney tunes videos have more views than his anime videos
Really appreciate this video. A fantastic deep dive. TH-cam has come a long way with content like this
I've checked your channel! Good luck and keep it up, _you're doing great_ 😊
@@yamataichul THANKS MATE
I look forward to future installments. I know almost nothing about the Looney Tunes of the '70s and '80s, and I'm curious to hear what you have to say about shows like Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, and Taz-Mania.
1 year later and we still didnt get teh final part of the merrie history of looney tunes and the uploader didnt say a single word telling us when the final part will come out.
I came here for Pink Panther and his cousin Kool Kat and I'm gonna stay for the other incredible Facts during their creations!
So, is there a chance of the next and final part touching upon what some of the major Warner Bros animators and directors did after 1969 like you did in this video with Chuck Jones, Bill Melendez, and Bob Clampett? Such as what Chuck's Phantom Tollbooth failure leading to MGM Animation closing in 1970 and his various animated works until his death in 2002, Friz Freleng's time at DePatie Freleng (also explaining why it closed in 1980) after he stopped producing the Looney Tunes in 1967 and the various projects he did until his death in 1995, Tex Avery's time at Hanna Barbara until his death in 1980, Robert McKimson's projects during the 1970s until his death in 1977, Frank Tashlin's death in 1972, Bob Clampett's feuding with Jones during Bugs Bunny Superstar and his death in 1984, Art Davis and Norm MacCabe's stuff until their deaths in the early 2000s, Mel Blanc's death in 1989, and even what Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising did after leaving MGM and touching on their deaths in 1982 and 1992 (you did it for Rollin Hamilton, Ben Hardaway, and Jack King's deaths in the 1950s) considering they were the creators of the franchise.
Honestly I don't think the Daffy/Speedy shorts or the Larriva Road Runner shorts were that bad, and I don't think Rudy purposefully made them bad, I think he just saw an opportunity to do things different from Jones and took it.
They're not the worst cartoons I've seen, but they do lack the craft, timing, and energy that made the earlier shorts so great.
In 1962 Chuck Jones attempted to make a television series of Road Runner and Wile E Coyote with a pilot called Adventures of the Road-Runner but once the pilot was made, Warner Bros executives rejected it so he edited it into three seperate shorts: To Beep or Not to Beep, Zip Zip Hooray! and Roadrunner a Go-Go. Adventures of Road-Runner was even going to include photoage from A to Z-z-z-z-z.
This was probably inspired the idea of The Road Runner Show but no one knows for sure.
The funny thing about the Banned 7 is how utterly tame they are compared to some adult animation made in the 1970s, which were never banned.
i have a strange suspicion that the next installment will be *zany to the max*
This was uploaded on my birthday😮😮🎉🎉😭 This is the best gift ever!
The 60s and 70s historically sound a lot similar to the 2020s. Except that nothing good is going to come out of what's happening in the 2020s.
One funny thing about limited animation is that when it was first developed in the late '40s, it was actually intended as an artistic counter to the more fluid animation that was then the mainstream (limited animation's potential as an art form in itself can be seen with the works of UPA, such as Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo). Of course, it didn't long for the execs to realize that limited animation was cheaper to produce, and so when they weren't shutting down their animation divisions, they were "encouraging" the animators to use fewer frames, and by the '80s, it was the mainstream in "American" animation (I use scare quotes because of course by that time a lot of it was actually produced in Japan and Korea, including anime-producing studios; Inspector Gadget and Tiny Toons were produced by the same studio as Lupin III).
Therefore Don Bluth was leading another artistic revolution from the limited animation mainstream when he broke away from that then-flagging studio to form a new one focusing on old-style fluid, "complete animation", which further spread when he inspired his increasingly uncomfortably mediocre former coworkers to revive their company with the Disney Renaissance. Call it the Animaaaaaaaaaation Reel of Liiiiiiiiiiiiife.
Watching UPA cartoons half a year ago was when I first understood the appeal of "Limited Animation". I used to view it as a cheap disgrace to the industry, and a lot of cartoons from the '60s to the '80s I find more historically interesting than entertaining. But after checking out some of the shorts, I found myself getting invested. I was even surprised to discover a lot of the Chuck Jones shorts, which were mostly my favourites, utilised "Limited Animation" with beautiful results.
The limited animation is why lower tier company's like Paramount, Walter Lantz and Terrytoons survived thru the early 70's It was either go cheap or go home. Ironically Joe Barbara persuaded MGM they could make more profit if they economic TV cartoons but they declined and he and Bill had to prove them wrong.
The biggest Irony is the company that stated the animation trend UPA didn't last long. Head Steve Bosustow became power mad and drove the rest of the staff out and they all formed separate studios. Steve was forced to sell UPA to Henry Saperstein in 1960 however their cash cow Columbia focused all their attention on Hanna/Barbara and eventually let them go in 1964.
Thank you so much for these. Going through the history of cartoon shorts got me through quarantine, so I appreciate learning the full behind-the-scenes story. You are the man.
So glad to see another episode of this, didn't think it was coming anytime soon if at all. Thanks!!!
i remember in an interview friz said.. he was happy about not being used in the later shorts
Sugar and Spies wasn't directed by Rudy Larriva but Bob McKimson.
Don't forget Walter Greene composed cartoon shorts from 1966 to 1967.
I always wondered why, in the 80s, when my local UHF station ran 1930s WB cartoons, they seemed to be missing frames and were animated so poorly. Turns out they were these badly retraced and colorized versions.